[Fluorometric determination of radiation damages to leukocyte DNA by Birnboim and Jevcak's method]

Fluorometric measurements of the levels of radiation injury to DNA of leucocyte lysates were made on the basis of the estimates of alkaline denaturation rate obtained by the method of Birnboim and Jevcak. Leucocytes of human blood in vitro and rats were exposed to doses of 0.5, 1, 1.5, 3, 6 and 9 Gy. It was shown that the percentage of double-stranded DNA of leucocytes of irradiated human blood decreased with the increase in the radiation dose while that of exposed rats decreased immediately after irradiation and was normalized after 20 h.